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A Non-Canonical Role for β-Secretase in the Retina

Conference paper
First Online:
Part of the Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology book series (AEMB, volume 854)

Abstract

It has long been established that β-Secretase (BACE) plays a critical role in the formation of amyloid plaques in Alzheimer’s Disease patients, but it is only recently that the importance of β-secretases in retinal pathophysiology has been recognized. BACE expression is elevated in response to stress, and downregulation results in lysosomal abnormalities and mitochondrial changes. Inhibition of BACE can lead to reduced retinal function, retinal thinning, lipofuscin accumulation and vascular dysfunction in mice. Furthermore, BACE inhibition accelerates choroidal neovascularization (CNV) in mice. We propose that BACE plays an important role in retinal homeostasis and that BACE upregulation in response to stress is a protective measure.

Keywords

β-secretase Retinal degeneration Choroidal neovascularisation Retinal pigment epithelium Lysosomes Mitochondria Angiogenesis Age-related macular degeneration 
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Notes

Acknowledgements

MEB is supported by NIH EY018358; NIH EY019688; AHAF M2009024, BIMR 1309; RPB Unrestricted Award and CBR by EY019038.

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Copyright information

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of OphthalmologyIndiana UniversityIndianapolisUSA
  2. 2.Departments of Ophthalmology and of Cell BiologyDuke University Medical CenterDurhamUSA
  3. 3.Department of Medical and Molecular GeneticsIndiana University School of MedicineIndianapolisUSA

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